The FAA's Year 2000 Problem

Today we conclude our two-part report on air travel and
the Y2K computer bug. Yesterday's installment detailed
the FAA's slow progress upgrading 20-year-old IBM
mainframe computers that make up most of the air traffic
control system.

If the IBM 3083 and the field testing problems aren't enough
to keep the FAA project managers (and the rest of us) up at
night, there is more interesting news: The whole thing might
crash anyway.
TIME Digital went to some Y2K consulting firms for a second
opinion about the FAA's Y2K challenges. These are the
people in the business of converting large-scale corporate
computer systems, and they've got the experience dealing
with Y2K problems of this magnitude.

Asked about the FAA's situation, one high-ranking industry
insider confided, "It is impossible for any business or
organization to be completely Y2K-compliant. Our computer
systems are so interconnected, both directly and through the
basic infrastructure, that no one can isolate themselves from
the problem." The pros, in other words, are not trying to
solve the problem so much as contain it. But that's not good
enough for the FAA. MORE>>